


Once an ANBU, Always an ANBU

by VirgoAthenaPurple



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26024026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirgoAthenaPurple/pseuds/VirgoAthenaPurple
Summary: Team 7 is sulking when Kakashi last minute tells them that their plan is off for the night, since they were supposed to spend time together. But when they turn to Team Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai, they find that they're sensei isn't just blowing them off for nothing… Alternate: Kakashi is chosen to evaluate a bunch of ANBU candidates, and his genin team just so happens to see.ex-ANBUCaptain!Kakashi, Team 7 centric. One-shot.
Kudos: 105





	Once an ANBU, Always an ANBU

They all gaped the the scroll in Sakura's hands, the unmistakable handwriting of Kakashi Hatake. The pink kunoichi was this close to tracking down the silver-haired jonin and beating him to a pulp. They had specifically planned this day out! They were supposed to spend time together as a team, and now the only 'adult' bailed.

"That…" Sakura took in a deep breath. "I have no words to describe him. How dare he just brush us off like it's no problem that we've been planning this outing. For hours. For _days_. For freaking _weeks_!"

Sasuke shrugged, just as agitated as the female, but opted not to show it. "Maybe he has a good reason this time."

"Yeah, Sakura-chan." Naruto scrunched up his face. "He knows that we've planned this day, so maybe it's something actually important?"

The statement ended up sounding like a question as Sakura turned around to glare at the two males, who shrunk backwards slightly at her unnerving glare.

"Good reason?" The girl hissed. "He's never had a good reason! NEVER!"

Sasuke winced at the high pitched noise, before sighing and interrupting her rant, which had started already. She talked a lot, that was for sure.

"Let's go hang out with the other teams," Sasuke suggested.

Sakura stopped ranting for a second, looking at Sasuke in surprise. Was the emo brooding boy finally willing to hang out with other people? Sasuke, seeing the bewildered looks he was receiving, huffed and got back into character.

"I'm only doing it so you shut up."

Naruto lit up. "Let's go!"

"I'm not forgetting this, sensei…" Sakura growled, gloomily walking after her two teammates.

"My rival's genin!" Gai yelped, seeing the trio approaching him.

Sasuke sighed, giving a half-hearted wave. "Hey."

"Gai-sensei!" Naruto grinned.

"Do you know why Kakashi-sensei ditched us today?" Sakura asked bluntly, arms crossed. Gai let out a nervous laugh, not going unnoticed by any of Team 7.

"I only know…er…that he's doing something important. Yeah. Important," Gai said uncertainly, glancing around at the other jonin who stood around him.

Kurenai shrugged. "True. It is important."

Asuma didn't do anything but nod along, eyes faraway. Sakura picked up on that, and whirled on the Sandaime's son. "You! You know something!"

"Me?" Asuma played dumb.

Sasuke's face hardened. "Sakura-chan, stop being disrespectful!"

"Asuma-sensei! Yeah!" Naruto pointed a finger at the man. "Can you pretty please tell us?"

"I don't see why not." Asuma shrugged, turning to all the other jonin ninjas.

Gai chuckled nervously. "Well…my rival isn't exactly going to be happy if they find out…not from him…"

"Whatever." Kurenai sighs, before winking. "Let's go watch."

"Watch?" Sakura was curious.

Asuma flicked away his dead cigarette. "He's evaluating a bunch of newbies."

"Newbies?" Sasuke was confused. But a jonin only had one genin team, and that genin team was the jonin's responsibility until the genin were promoted to chunin. What was Kakashi-sensei doing?

"You'll see," Kurenai says mysteriously, before the three jonin and Team 7 made their way to training ground one, the biggest grounds in Konoha.

When they got there, the genin sat down under the trees that created a border around the plain patch of grass, which was otherwise known as Training Ground One. The jonin stood and kept an eye out for any attacks that might accidentally come their way, always alert.

Just when Naruto was at the end of his patience and was about to rant about ramen, the air became cold and some Konoha-nin quietly made their way onto the field, followed by what looks like their family and even the current Hokage, the Sandaime, trailed in, taking a seat next to the genin.

The Konoha-nin all wore porcelain white masks, very much like the ANBU operatives, but instead of having an animal, they had a number painted in red on the forehead of their masks.

The Sandaime looked at the eager genin, who all recognised these ANBU masks as the ANBU candidate masks, only worn when they're trying out for the Black Ops.

Interesting. The Hokage inhaled through his pipe. The genin are here. This will be an interesting experience…

"Too loud." Kakashi's voice was unmistakable, and all of the genin flinched at his cold tone.

"What's Kaka-sensei doing here?" Naruto whispered, quite loudly.

Kurenai shushed him, but then answers his questions. "It's his job for today."

"Here?" Naruto was still confused. But his other two teammates' minds where whirling. Kakashi couldn't be here to test these ANBU candidates…was he?

"Pair up. One with Two, Three with Four and so on," Kakashi orders, suddenly appearing in front of all of the candidates, in the ANBU uniform. His white and red mask unnerved the candidates, who listened to his orders but gave him uncertain glances.

"That's the Copy Ninja…" Someone murmured from the audience. "He's the one evaluating the applicants?!"

"I heard he was called the Silver Vengeance back in the day…"

"No, he was the second White Fang!"

"I thought he was Cold-Blooded Kakashi…"

"Wasn't he Friend-Killer?"

"It doesn't matter, he's still the best of the best."

The genin paled considerably at those comments made by the family of the candidates, whom some of them were retired ANBU operatives.

"He's Kakashi of the Sharingan, the one and only captain of Team Ro." An ANBU operative hissed, appearing out of nowhere, just like Kakashi had. Everyone was suddenly interested in everything _but_ the new ANBU operative, who snorts, crosses his arms and turns back to watching the candidates fight each other like their lives depend on it.

"Hmm…" Kakashi held up a hand, and all of the candidates ceased all movement. "Tell me, Three, Seven, Twelve, Fourteen, Fifteen, Twenty-Nine, and Thirty-Four. Why are you holding back?"

The said candidates froze and you could see them becoming more nervous by the second, obviously put off by how calm and devoid of any emotion Kakashi had called them out.

"Well?" Kakashi's voice was sharp and cold, earning a wince and flinch from the genin sitting nearby.

None of them said word, but the brave Twelve stood forwards, before bowing.

"Gomenasai…" The man was obviously waiting for the ANBU — or actually ex-ANBU — to supply a name, but Kakashi merely gazed at him coolly.

"Do you think an apology will fix it?" Kakashi was calm, but his voice was rough. "Do you think an apology can fix everything? Do you think an apology can fix someone's injury? Someone's death?"

Twelve flinched, and even through the mask, Kakashi could tell the man was scared.

"Don't say sorry. Your actions should. Dismissed."

No one moved a muscle.

"I _said_ , dismissed."

Twelve shuffled back into place, and Kakashi reached up to his own face and his fingers tightened around his mask. Slowly removing the object, his two mismatched eyes seemed to glare at anyone who dared look him in the eye, his hitai-ate nowhere in sight.

"Go on. Fight it out. Impress me."

Without needing further acknowledgement, the candidates returned to their partner, fighting with their whole strength and agility. There were 'ooo's and 'ahhh's as some Shinobi showed off, used flashy techniques that looked impressive but did not fool the Copy-nin.

"Enough."

They all paused, not even daring to look at the Copy Ninja.

"All of you have five minutes to get to know each other. After those five minutes are done, I except you to come at me with the intent to kill to retrieve this."

Kakashi held up something that looked familiar to Team 7.

Sakura's mouth fell open. "The bell test. He's doing the bell test on them."

"Hai…" The candidates were unsure, and Kakashi's mouth underneath his personal mask twisted up into something that resembled a smile, and nobody thought it was warm.

"You don't want me to do this alone? Think I'll be too easy?" Kakashi's eyes closed for a second, and he inhaled before slowly exhaling. "Well, why don't I call my team?"

Kakashi opened his eyes, and forced his chakra to spike, sending out a signal to Team Ro, who were mostly already there, but some were patrolling the village.

"Hatake-senpai." the ANBU who had snapped at the audience earlier disappeared with a swirl of leaves only to appeared behind Kakashi.

Kakashi inclines his head to the left, which was the direction the ANBU had appeared. "Viper."

"Hound," A female voice says, and a woman with purple haired appeared next to Viper, on the left of the man.

Kakashi doesn't move, only open his mouth to speak. "Bear."

"Captain." Another male appeared.

"Possum." Kakashi sighs, before turning back to the candidates. "Your time is up. Come at us, please, with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you'll have no chance of retrieving this bell."

Enraged at being looked down upon, the candidates charged, all cursing each other internally for getting into each other's ways. Kakashi almost shook his head, but stopped before he did. This, again, was about teamwork. Looks like none of them cared about valuing each other.

Team Ro easily defeated all of the candidates, who were amazed as how graceful and skilled the ANBU team were. It wasn't just the candidates; everyone in the audience were.

"Wha — how — amazing — huh — whoa — cool!" Naruto finally settled on a word, eyes bulging out.

Asuma chuckled, amused. "Yeah, cool. Even we don't get to see ANBU's most elite team fight a lot."

"Most elite team?" Sasuke questioned.

"How do you not know?" Kurenai replied. "Your brother Itachi-san was in Team Ro before he was promoted to a captain. I'm pretty sure Kakashi was the captain of him too."

"Really?" Sasuke's voice was high with disbelief, looking back at his teacher, who was dealing with five candidates with only one hand, looking pretty bored.

Gai, for once, looked serious. "Team Ro isn't actually complete. If my memory serves right, there's the captain, the medic, the stealth operative, the hunter, the sensor and the seal master."

"That's…six people." Sakura counted. "There are only four people present. Where are the other two?"

"Beats me." Asuma shrugs, before glancing back at the fight.

"Stop," Kakashi orders, and his three teammates freeze mid-movement, punches frozen in the air and knives still. "Enough. Retreat."

Team Ro, bar Kakashi, disappeared with a swirl of leaves, leaving Kakashi with all of the candidates, who were all gasping for breath and looked like they were about to pass out.

Kakashi smirked, and the genin were taken aback by how evil and delightful his expression was. "Good luck in your next evaluation; torture and interrogation."

And with that, the Copy Ninja disappeared without so much of a look towards the audience, except for a stiff bow towards the Hokage, who looked with an amused look but calculating eyes.

"That…that was Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura gaped.

Naruto was shocked as well. "That's awesome! He's so good!"

"Best of the best." Kurenai nods, echoing whoever said it earlier.

Sasuke mused, "Best of the best, hmm?"

"But he's so different!" Sakura burst, facial expression showing nothing but confusion. "He's usually late, or reading that stupid perverted book of his, or just sending a shadow clone in front of him so he isn't _that_ late!"

"And here he's an ANBU captain, cold, devoid of any emotion, extremely skilled, gives out clear orders?" Gai replies, looking at the pink-haired girl, who nods in agreement. "He's not actually an ANBU captain, he's an ex-ANBU."

"But why…?"

Naruto's question didn't go unanswered. "Once an ANBU, always an ANBU."

They all jumped, including the jonin, at the sudden appearance of an ANBU — Viper.

"What does that mean?" Naruto scratched his head.

Viper sighs. "It means, you never really leave the ANBU. Sure, senpai might not bear the title, but he's always going to be regarded as a captain and respected as a captain."

"But…" Sakura tilted her head. "If he's no longer ANBU, why does he still have a team?"

"He doesn't." Viper's voice was dull. "We're what's leftover of Team Ro, simply because we've split up. Hatake-senpai will always be our leader, until he retires."

"But hasn't he already retired?" Sasuke questioned, crossing his arms.

"No. He didn't request to be retired, the Hokage did. If Hatake-senpai himself wanted to retire, he'd retire. But he won't." It sounded like Viper was smiling, but you couldn't be sure, it was always a mystery when it came to ANBU operatives.

"Maaaaa," a familiar voice drawled, "what are you guys doing here?"

Kurenai let out a squeak. A _squeak_. "Kakashi!"

"Yo." The man himself waved, wearing the usual jonin uniform, his hitai-ate over his Sharingan eye.

Naruto gaped. "How'd you get changed so fast?"

Kakashi winked. "You'll never know. And I'll ask again. What are you guys doing here?"

All of the normal Shinobi gulped and looked at each other. They definitely didn't want to deal with an angry Kakashi, especially since they had seen what he was capable of.

"Well?"

Sakura spoke up. "Well…ano…"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! It came out okay...but at least I got my idea across.
> 
> I love constructive feedback, and if you like my writing, go check out my profile because I've got other stories up (both longer and shorter fics). I got inspiration from this one story, but I can't remember the name and can't find it, so if the original writer thinks I'm plagiarising or anything, I'll take this down.
> 
> ~ VirgoAthenaPurple


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